Fifteen of Shanghai's 16 districts have contained the community spread of COVID-19 and population under closed-off management has been reduced to less than 1 million, local authorities told the press on Monday.

Transportation services are expected to gradually resume, according to Zong Ming, vice mayor of the municipality in eastern China. Taxis and private vehicles are allowed to hit the streets from Monday in districts that have cleared out community transmission of the virus outside of the hospitals.

Buses and subway can be expected to resume operation gradually from May 22, Zong said. Beginning Monday, railway stations will see the number of outbound and inbound trains increasing.

During the press conference, Zong also stressed the importance of multiple containment measures to keep an eye on any emerging infections, including the requirement of having a negative COVID-19 test result within 48 hours, before visiting public places and using public transport.

Zong said supply chains will now start to normalize as commercial outlets selling life necessities including supermarkets, convenient stores and pharmacy stores to resume business. Moreover, wholesale markets, hair salons and laundry shops will also start business soon. However, indoor services such as cinemas, gyms and museums shall remain closed for now.

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Final-year students, including middle school and high school seniors, will resume classes first as other students continue with online classes. Meanwhile, kindergartens shall remain closed.

Zong said the city will take the following three steps to cautiously resume daily operations: First, in the following six days, the city will watch out for possible COVID-19 rebound and cut down new infections with prevention measures. Second, it will narrow down the areas for quarantine until all areas are cleared. Third, Shanghai will be expected to fully resume its daily operation gradually in June.

The city logged 69 new confirmed cases and 869 asymptomatic cases on Sunday. All cases were found in closed-off areas.

As of Sunday, Shanghai had 261 severe and 65 critical COVID-19 patients under treatment at designated hospitals. Four deaths were recorded on Sunday, with the average age of 86.5, all having different underlying diseases such as tumors, coronary heart diseases and anemia. Moreover, over 6,700 asymptomatic patients released from quarantine after recovery and sent back home for health monitoring.